Hat-brushing machine



Dec, 2, 1924.

F. w. PlTzER HAT BRUSHING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov. l, 1923 rig llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll1 llilllllllllllllllll Dec. 2, 1924.

F. W. PITZER HAT BRUSHING MACHINE 2 SheetS-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 1, 1923 Patented Dec. 2, 1924.

UNITED STATES FREDRICK W. PITZER, OF SOUTH NORWALK, CONNECTICUT.

HAT-BRUSHING MACHINE.

Application filed November To al?. whom t may concer-n.'

Be it known that I, FPEDRICK 1V. Prrznii, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Norwalk, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, have invented a. new and useful Hat-Brushing Machine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to hat brushing machines, and has for an object to produce a machine for automatically brushing hatting material as eectively as is now done by hand, and which will not only use the opposing rotary action of the present hand brushes but which will automatically move the point of contact of the brushes on the material so that a uniformly changing' action is produced which raises the fibre of the material and gives it the required life and lustre so long aimed at in good batting.

1t is also an object of the invention to provide automatic means for stopping the brushing operation at a predetermined time so that a single operator may control a number of machines and the brushing op` eration will not be carried too far.

With the foregoing and other objects iu view, 1 have devised the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, similar reference characters being employed throughw out the various views to designate corresponding elements. In these drawings,

Fig. 1 is a. side elevation of the machine, parts being broken away to more clearly show the construction.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of the automatic. stop.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of a shield or guard, and

Fig. 5 is a transverse section thereof substantially on line 5-5 o-f F ig. el..

In these drawings, 10 represents a suitable supporting frame in which is mounted a vertical shaft 11, carrying a table 12 for supporting the hat to be brushed. This table may be made of various materials, but preferably is of aluminium so that it will be light in weight, and is provided on its top with a plurality of small sockets 13 leading from the top surface thereof which will provide suction cups for retaining the hat on the table. The hat is shown folded and resting on the top of the table at 14. The table is mounted to rotate with the shaft 11. Any suitable connection may be employed, but 1 Serial No. 672,067.

have shown the upper end of the shaft as extending into a socket at the under side of the table with a pin 15 for securing` them together.

The table is rotated by suitable means, such as a pulley 16, having driving connection with the shaft through a feather 17 so that the shaft may slide longitudinally in the pulley, suitable collars 18 being provided between two horizontal supports 19 to retain the pulley against vertical movements. At its lower end the shaft has aspherical bearing 2O in a block 21 which is vertically adjustable in a support 22, the connection between the block and the support being a threaded connection, as shown at 23, so that by rotating the block it may be adjusted vertically in the support. The shaftis maintained in the block by a pin 211 extending through a peripheral groei/'e 25 in the shaft. Thus the shaft may rotate in the block but is secured therein by the pin and groove.

Between the support 22 and a member 26 of the frame is a toggle comprising two links 27 which are pivoted together at 28. The upper end of the upper link is pivoted to the support 22 at 29 while the lower end of the lower link is pivoted to the member 26 at 30. Also pivoted in the frame is a treadle 31 having an arm 32 which is connected by link 33 with pivot 28 so that by pressing this treadle from the dotted line position to the full line position the links 27 of the toggle will be moved from an angular position, shown in dotted lines, to a straight line position, shown in full lines, to raise the shaft 11 and the table 12. It will be obvious that if this toggle is broken to the dott-ed line position the table will. be lowered.

Mounted above the table and so located as to rotate about axes substantially parallel wit-h the axis of rotation of the table, and therefore, so that they will rotate in a plane substantially parallel with the plane of rotation of the table, are a pair of oblong brushes The centers of these brushes or their axes of rotation are preferably placed on opposite sides of the axis of rotation of the table, and they are spaced from each other a distance less than the` length of the brushes so that the surfaces covered by these brushes as they are rotated will. overlap. That is, these oblong brushes are set at subi stantially right angles to each other and are rotated in opposite directions, this action being secured by a pair of spur gears 35 connected to shafts carrying the brushes. Thus the brushes rotate in unison as well. as in opposite directions. A. pulley 3T is carried by one of the shafts 36 and is connected by any suitable means, as a belt 38, to a driving pulley 39, carried by a shaft A second pulley al carried by this shaft drives the table through a belt e2. The shaft et() is driven from any suitable source of power by a belt I3 ruiming on the tight and loose pulleys ist and 45. Means is provided for automatically shifting this belt when the table is raised and lowered. For this purpose ay pair ofI pins 46 extend` on opposite edges of one side of the belt and are carried by rod 4t? connectedl to a lever S which pivotedv at 4:9 in the frame ofthe machine. This lever is connected at its opposite end to alink connected to the treadle 3l or the link 33 so that when the pedal depressed to raise the table l2 to brushing position, as shown in Fig. l, the belt 4E) is automatically shifted to the tight pulley lt and will rotate the table and brushes, but when the treadle and the toggle are moved to the dotted line position to lower the table atl the completion` of the brushing operation the belt will be automatically shifted to the loose pulley 25 and the table and brushes will stop rotating. The link is made in two parts connected together by the. spring 33. The two parts are slidable relatively to each other to allow depression of the pedal to allow` the. elements to start rotating and move the pin 57 to a position to allow the table to be raised to brushing position.

In brushing the hats the brushing operation is continued for a given length of time and then it should be stopped. For the purpose of .automatically stopping this brushing operation means is provided for automatically breaking the toggle 27 at a predetermined time. For this purpose I have mounted on the shaft l1 a bevel gear 51 mounted to rotate in a bearing 52 carried by the lower support 19, this gear being driven through the feather 17, and it meshes with a second bevel gea1 53 mounted on a shaft 54C which is rotatable in a suitable bearing 55. Also carried by this shaft is a dise 56 provided with a pin 57 projecting into an elongated' slot 58 in a member 5S) which is pivoted at G0 to another member 61' carrying a pin 62 extending into an elongated slot G3 in a link (ist of a second toggle, the other link of this toggle beingl shown at G5, the two links being pivoted together at G6. The opposite end of link ttt is pivoted to the connection 28 between the links 2T. and the link 65 is pivoted to the frame at 6T. Thus asl the disc is rotated the pin 5T will rise in the slot 5S without raising the member 59 until the pin engages the top of the slot, then further movement of the disc will break the toggle Glwt by raising the link 64ra-nd will break the toggle 2T automatically lowering the table and stopping the rotation of the table and brushes. The ratio between the bevel gears 5l and Si, may be anything desired, but I have found that a ratio of approxiniately ten to one with a proper speed of the table with relation to the brushes will give a brushing operation of about one minute, which is very satisfactory. The toggle (il-(35 may be held in full line position by a block TS.

During the brushing operation, in order to get the proper lustre and proper finish, hot water should be poured over the surface being brushed. l? or this purpose I provide a tank (5S with a pipe (if) leading therefrom to a nozzle 70, intermediate the two brushes, with a valve 7l in this pipe to control the` iiow of water. A rod 72 leads from the valve lever 73 to the toggle (il- (55 so that when the toggle is broken, to lower the table the water is automatically sluit o'tl'), but when the table is raised to the brushing position the cortrol valve for the water is automatically opened.

In operation the cone shaped piece o t felt forming the hat is folded, as shown in Figs. l and 2, and placed on top of the table when the table is in lowered position. The operator then depresses the treadle 31. which operation automatically starts the brushes and the table to rotating as described above, the table will be raised to a position immediately under the brushes, and it will also automatically open the Tater con trol valve 7l to allow hot water to iiow on the surface being brushed. The table will rotate slowly while the brushes rotate at considerable speed. but it will be apparent that the two brushes will give the opposing rotary action now secured with the hand brushes, but at the same time the hat is automatically passed under the brushes hy the. movement of the table so that there. is a continuous and uniformly changing action between the tabl-e and the brushes and the hat carried by the table, so that the ihre of the material is raised to give the required life and lustre. It will also be apparent that all portions are thoroughly brushed in opposite directions by the brushes and there are no dead centers, and thus the effect secured by the laborious hand brushing is automatically secured in this machine. The table com tinues to rotate slowly until sufficient brush ing has been secured and then it is automatically lowered and stopped when the opera-tor again folds the hat or Crozes it and replaces it on the table to brush the remaining surface. These operations are repeated until the entire surface has been properly brushed. Ordinarily the entire outer surface 'of the hat is brushed but the peak on the inside of the hat is preferably not brushed. In order to prevent brushing of this peak I provide a shield or a guard 74 which may be secured to the table by any suitable means, preferably by a hinge 7 5, and the front edge 7 6 of this shield is curved, as shown, so that when the peak 77 of the hat is placed under the shield the desired portion of this peak will be protected against the brushing operation.

By adjusting the bearing block 21 in its support 22 the pressure of the brushes on the hat may be varied as desired.

IIaving thus set forth the nature of my invention7 what I claim is:

l. In a hat brushing machine, a rotatable table for holding the hat to be brushed, a pair of brushes above the table and rotatable in a plane substantially parallel with the table, and means for rotating the table and brushes.

2.4 In a hat brushing machine, a rotatable table for holding the hat to be brushed, a pair of oblong brushes above said table and rotatable in a plane substantially parallel therewith, the axes of rotation of said brushes being spaced a distance less than the length of the brushes so that the surfaces opera-ted upon by the brushes will overlap, means for rotating the table, and means for rotating the brushes iii opposite directions.

3. In a hat brushing machine, a rotatable table for holding the hat to be brushed, a rotatable brush above said table mounted to rotate in a plane substantially parallel with the table, means for causing relative movement of the brush and table toward and from each other and holding them in proper position during the brushing opera tion, means for adjusting the distance between said elements for the brushing opera-l tion, and means for rotating the brush and the table.

4C. In a hat brushing machine, a rotatable table, a rotatable brush above said table mounted to rotate in a plane substantially parallel with the table, means for moving the table to a position adjacent said brush for the brushing operation and retiacting it therefrom after the brushing operation has been completed, means for adjusting the distance between said elements for the brushing operation, and means for rotating the brush and table.

5. In a hat brushing machine, a rotatable table for holding the hat to be brushed, one or more brushes mounted to rotate in a plane substantially parallel with said table, manually operable means for moving the table to a position adjacent said brush or brushes for the brushing operation and retaining it therein, and automatic means for moving the table away from the brush or brushes at the completion of the brushing operation.

6. In a hat brushing machine, a support for holding the hat to be brushed, a pair of oblong brushes mounted to rotate in substantially the saine plane above said support, the aXes of rotation of said brushes being spaced a distance less than the length of the brushes so that the surfaces operated upon by the brushes will overlap, means for rotating the brushes, and means for causing a relative lateral movement between the brushes and the support to pass the hat under the brushes.

7. In a hat brushing machine, a rotatable table for holding the hat to be brushed, a rotatable brush above said table, means for rotating the table, means for moving the table to a position adjacent the brush for the brushing operation and to a position away from the brush at the completion of the brushing operation, and means controlled by the movements of said table for causing the table rotating` means to become effective and ineffective.

8. In a hat brushing machine, a table for holding the hat to be brushed, a rotatable brush above said table, means for moving the table to a position adjacent the brush for the brushing operation including a toggle, manually operable means for operating the toggle, and means for automatically breaking the toggle to move the table to a position away from the brush at a predetermined time.

9. In a hat brushing machine, a rotatable table for holding the hat to be brushed, means for rotating` the table, a brush above the table, means for rotating the brush, manually operable means for moving the table to a position acent the brush for the brushing operation, means for automatically moving the table to a position away from the brush at a predetermined time, and means operated by the movement of the table to brushing position to cause said table rotating means to become effective and to stop rotation of the table when moved to its position away from the brush.

10. In a hat brushing machine, a table for holding the hat to be brushed, a rotatable brush above said table, means for moving the table to'a position adjacent the brush for the brushing operation and to a position away from the brush at the completion of the brushing operation, means -for feeding water to the surface of the hat during the brushing operation, and means controlled by said movements of the table for controlling the water supply.

1l. In a hat brushing machine, a table for holding the hat to be brushed provided with a plurality of small pockets leading from the surface thereof, and a rotating brush above said table.

l2. In a hat brushing machine, a table for holding a hat to be brushed, a rotatable brush above said table, means for causing a relative movement between the table and brush, and a guard secured to the table for covering' a portion of the hat to prevent brushing'of this portion.

13. In a hat brushing machine, a rotatable table for holding. a hat to be brushed, a pair ot rotatable oblong brushes above said table and rotatable in a plane substantially paraln lel with the table, the axes of rotation of' said brushes being spaced a distance less than the length of the brushes and the axis of rotation of the table being' intermediate the axes of rotation ot the brushes. and nieans for rotating' the table and. brushes.

In testimoniT whereof l aliix my signature.

FRIEDRICH PTFZER. 

